


put your trust in me, i'm not gonna die alone

by animalSaint, FreezingKaiju



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Blood and Injury, F/F, First Aid, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animalSaint/pseuds/animalSaint, https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreezingKaiju/pseuds/FreezingKaiju
Summary: Rei is seriously injured. Asuka helps bandage her. They misunderstand the reasons behind both gestures, but somehow, through this they finally bond.
Relationships: Ayanami Rei/Souryuu Asuka Langley
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	put your trust in me, i'm not gonna die alone

Rei Ayanami has always enjoyed the rain.

The soft cacophony soothes her, the blue-grey atmosphere of a heavy rainfall the perfect background to fall asleep to, or quiet her abilities to... or in today’s case, to change her bandages.

She pushes aside some of her roommate’s things, rolls her sleeves up, removes the bandages snaking up her arms and torso (stained an ugly deep red, a hideous red, the red of her own horrible eyes), and applies new, sanitized ones. Her wounds heal so quickly, but she gains them so easily. She wishes it did not have to be this way; however, her existence dictates such.

She folds the bloodstained bandages, exits the bathroom to the dorm proper, and lays them gently in her basin. For all the world, it’s as if she’s alone, operating on total autopilot.

Asuka's laying on her bunk, arms crossed. She should be sleeping, she really should (hell, that's why she's still in the dorm in the first place). She would lie and say she was just about to when Ayanami started making a racket, but that'd be complete bullshit and she knows it. Still annoying, though.

She thrusts the back of her head into her pillow with a frustrated grunt.  _ Fuck. Looks like I'm just gonna feel like shit all day I guess. _ She glares at Ayanami out of the corner of her good eye.  _ Fuck her. Fuck her for being so distracting and-- _

_ Oh. Oh  _ god _. _

There's a lot more red on Ayanami than there should be. Asuka finds herself sitting up, words already leaving her mouth.

"What the everliving fuck happened to you? Where'd those come from?"

_ Hm. She noticed. _

Rei rolls her uniform’s sleeves down, as if that solves anything. She’s worn the threadbare shirt on-again-off-again since she was fourteen. It doesn’t fit anymore, few things from early high school still do, but she makes do with what she’s allowed. She takes a few steps away from the bandage basin. Lying has never been a strong suit of hers, so she aims for vagueness. “An incident occurred. I will avoid causing any mess on your side of the room.”

Asuka pretty much launches off the bunk-- a mistake. She stumbles on sleeping legs across the space between her and her roommate. "An incident? The fuck kind of incident does that?!" Asuka points at one of Rei's arms. "You look like you've been mauled! Mein Gott... does anyone know about this?!" Probably not, but it's worth asking. Like she's one to ask anyway.

“No,” Rei responds, truthfully this time; nobody, not Shinji, not her father, not any hospital staff she’d seen. The latter is and always has been why she knows how to treat her own wounds. Rei has few things she can call her own, fewer still not built into her or forced into her mind. Her roommate, however, exudes self determination, self-power,  _ self _ . Rei would enjoy having a self, instead of merely having... injuries, incidents, and secrets.

" _ Gottverdammt _ ..." Asuka says under her breath. "Do y-- do you need help? Are you gonna be okay? I could help you," she adds impulsively. What the fuck is she saying? Her words are quick and awkward and stupid and she hates it. Could be because the sight of Rei's injuries and cheap bandaging bringing up bad memories-- her old room after one of her first hunts, shitty gauze, panicking, too much blood and antibiotic cream, hoping that the scratches weren't infected already, wanting to cry but can't.

“...help?” The word is unknown to her, a threat, maybe a new point of argument for her roommate to bring up.  _ Another argument will be decidedly for the worst, now _ . She needs to attempt to defuse this, then, but given her utter lack of social skills, easier said than done.

“I request a delay of any fight you are challenging me to.” Diplomatic, to the point, a request rather than a beg. Rei attempts to pat herself on the back and is met with a sharp spike of pain.

Asuka stares for a solid five seconds. Of all the responses she might've expected if she actually thought this through, this one would be absolutely none of them. "Any fi-- What the  _ actual fuck _ are you talking about?! I'm not--  _ Ugh _ , look." It's taking all of Asuka's strength to not raise her voice. She leans down slightly, more towards Rei's eye level but not quite. "Help. Assistance. With your injuries. Do you need it or not?"

Rei flinches. She miscalculated. Hm.  _ Assistance _ . That word... that one she knows well. One she has been trained in, convinced was her purpose for a time. This marks the first time it has ever been offered to her.

Rei takes a deep breath, collects herself all together, prepares for the offer to be revoked. “I do need it.” She pauses, gives a buffer for the statement, then continues, “Are you sure you want to offer that?”

_ Am I sure? What kinda question is that?  _ Asuka just shrugs. "Yeah. I mean, why not?"  _ Damn this girl is weird _ . Not necessarily in a bad way, but... compared to everyone else on campus, she's just very... off.  _ But still, can't have her just bleeding everywhere. That'd just suck for literally everyone involved. _

_ Why not? _ Rei reflects on this, hand moving to chin; she does not know why this aids in contemplation, yet it does.  _ Because I am a monster. A tool. A weapon. Because I have never been worth as much as a human being like you _ . All things she could never say, could never reveal, could never subject her roommate to.

She decides to phrase it as a question. “Am I worth the trouble?”

_ Why wouldn't you be worth the trouble? _ Asuka sighs. Seems like she's never gonna get a Straight answer out of this girl. She puts her hands together in a manner that almost looks like praying and points her fingertips at Rei. "Look. Uh, I don't know you, like, at all, but... I mean, you're a person. And you're fuckin' bleeding. I don't know about you, but that's... that's worth the trouble to me. Got it?"

She offers Rei a very awkward, very confused smile.

Rei takes that in; she supposes, even if she is not a person, she seems enough like one for her roommate to consider her worth the trouble. She wishes she were truly worth it; but, she supposes this is good enough reason to accept help. A nod, and she reaches over to put her hands on the pair pointed towards hers. Her roommate's smile, crooked as it is, causes some strange pulse of warmth inside of the self-described husk that is Ayanami. "I get it. I... please help me."

Asuka feels something very warm rise in her cheeks as Ayanami's hands touch hers. Their warmth and softness catches Asuka more off-guard than she would've expected.

"Alright," she coughs, trying to keep as much of her cool as she can. "Uh. How much do you hurt? Where are you hurt, I mean."

Rei lets go of Soryu's hands, conscious now only how much of an overstep it might have been, and rolls her sleeves back up, exposing mummy-wrap levels of haphazard new bandaging, then gestures down to her right thigh, where a line of cheap bandages forms in a suspiciously slash-shaped pattern. "Both arms, right leg," she informs her roommate, as if it's not obvious. "Should I sit?"

Asuka looks her roommate up and down. _Jesus christ, did she roll down a fucking mountain?_ _Where did these even come from? Probably nowhere good._ They'll definitely need a hell of a lot of bandaging to take care of it.

Asuka just then realizes Ayanami asked her something. "Oh yeah, sure," she says quickly. She watches as the girl seats herself on her bed-- which Asuka now realizes has little bloodstains all over-- and gets down on one knee to inspect the injuries.

"W'need to take these off to rewrap 'em, alright?" She picks up Ayanami's hand very gingerly, counting the red stains already starting to form on the bandages. Way too many.

" _ Mein Gott _ that's... a lot. Damn, how much antibiotic shit do you hafta use? A whole fucking tube?" She almost laughs, but she manages to catch herself. Not a good time for that.

Soryu's hands, ginger in touch as her hair, are so gentle. Rough, callused, yet tender. Rei could feel how skilled they were, how adept, how much they'd been used for. Had they ever held someone? What did her roommate do with them, to make them this worn yet this strong?

Rei nods to the first question, but shakes her head to the second. "Half, roughly. I did not have time for a proper estimate." Another little failure to be placed gingerly on the pile.

This is a very different experience from what Asuka's used to-- she's never done first aid on another person. She's never had to. That won't stop her from being as gentle as she can to Ayanami, as gentle as she wishes someone would be to her.

_ Oh yeah, the bandages _ . Asuka looks around, feeling the ground for the roll. "Ughh,  _ wo ist diese Scheiße-- _ oh." They're next to her knee. Good.

Asuka returns her attention to the girl in front of her. She tugs very gently on the shoddy bandages on Rei's left arm. "I'm gonna pull this off," she says. "It might-- It's probably gonna hurt, alright?"

Rei nods, her face the picture of calm, as if they were discussing the weather or the merits of dish soap. She may flinch, but she will not scream. She never has.

The roll of bandages is unfamiliar to her. She has little experience with even having proper first aid be administered. Gendo Ikari had taught her so he wouldn't have to deal with her as much, and it seems he taught her incorrectly.  _ Add that to another stack. _ One of these days she will have something to replace those glasses, and she will throw them away as spitefully as possible.

Asuka watches Rei's face for a moment, checking for some sign of hesitation, something that contradicts her body language, but finding nothing. So she just nods back and looks down, bites her lower lip in concentration. She can't just rip it off like she does to her own bandaging-- this is completely different.  _ Think of it as a new challenge. Yeah. _

Asuka places her hand on Rei's elbow-- slowly-- to steady it, and her fingers pick up the slightly frayed end of the bandage. She glances up at Rei, just once, before taking a breath and steadily beginning to pull it off.

Rei stares steadily ahead. She is in slight agony, but slight enough that she can try to ignore it.  _ It is all fine. Everything is entirely fine. Nothing hurts. _

Soryu's hands on her arm, on her elbow, help ground her, but she is unsure if that is for the better or for the worse; if she can disassociate, it will stop hurting. She will drift away. Nothing will be real. She will not need to confront the situation literally unravelling.

The bandages reveal some days-old, almost adequately-stitched gashes on Rei. They aren't deep, but a couple might scar. What's interesting, and awful, and horrific, is how familiar they look.

The gashes match the claw pattern of the angel Asuka killed yesterday.

Asuka's stomach drops. The angel-- the angel she was hunting, one of the creatures she swore to kill-- had injured Ayanami. It's a reminder of why Asuka hunts those wretched bastards in the first place. A slap in the face, almost; She killed the angel, but it still hurt somebody. She  _ failed _ .

Ayanami would very likely be scarred for life from it, forever bearing a sign of her pain, all because Asuka wasn't fast enough.

She clenches her jaw, blood roaring in her ears. If she hadn't ended the angel already, Asuka would have sworn ten times over to destroy it. She can only pay back her failure-- Ayanami's pain-- in the blood of angels.

That's an easy vow, isn't it? Blood for blood fixes everything, right? A knot forms in her throat. The gashes are way too real. They happened and she can't change that. Nothing she could do could fix it. Nothing would be enough.

"I'm sorry," she barely chokes out. "I'm so fucking sorry."

Rei's mind goes into overdrive trying to process what Soryu's facial expressions mean and connect it to what she said. Slumped over, choking, eyes burning with a far more intense form of the rage Rei had come to accept as characteristic of her roommate, but with something else there, something new, something that reaches in with a clawed hand and twists at Rei's insides.  _ Does Soryu know? About my curse, about the horrors that come for me, is she... has she known all along? Or is this merely an apology for whatever it could have been? _ Not merely, strike that, no apology to Rei is  _ mere _ ; something she so rarely experienced could not be dismissed like that. Once from her brother, a few times from strangers for minor things... never something this raw.

Rei reaches out to Soryu with her still-bandaged other arm, and places a hand on her shoulder. "It was an... animal. It attacked me. These things happen. I will recover."

Rei's hand on Asuka's shoulder is almost solace, almost comforting until she remembers that it's covered in scratches, wounds that she's responsible for.

An animal. Asuka shakes her head. Of course she'd think it was an animal. She wouldn't know what an angel is. That just adds more salt to the wound.

"You shouldn't have to," Asuka whispers, trying so, so hard to get a grip on the emotions bubbling forth in her voice. "You shouldn't."

"I..." Rei looks away to the window. Her arm falls limp and slips off of Soryu's shoulder. She had failed, might as well open another wound of her own. "...have never been told that. I have been informed of original sin, or of a curse, or 'being unlucky', or that it is a punishment for being born wrong, or that my pain is a blessing on others. There is no consensus, but..." she trails off, trying to think of something to turn this into something better. "...accepting that these things happen has made it easier to stand back up."

Asuka's... not sure what Ayanami means. Original sin.  _ Sounds kinda like Carrie _ . She distantly wonders if Ayanami's seen that movie. If not, maybe they could watch it together sometime, if Ayanami doesn't hate Asuka at the end of this.

"I... I get that. But--" Asuka doesn't know what to say without giving too much away, without freaking her roommate out, if that's even possible. "Even if it did happen, you-- you shouldn't have gotten hurt. You don't deserve that. I'm sorry." She repeats that last sentence under her breath again like somehow that will undo all of this. Asuka takes a deep breath, one thing to keep away an incoming breakdown. She picks up the roll of gauze off the floor. "Let's just-- let me fix this. Please."

A refreshing perspective. One that still manages to blindside Rei. Not...  _ deserving  _ this... all of this... it seems wrong. But it feels... somehow, to Rei, the idea feels soft. Like the new pillow on her first night of moving in. She could sink into the sentiment and relax for once, if just briefly. She could sink into Soryu's arms... and ruin everything being built up in this moment.

Her eyes snap to the gauze in Soryu's strong hand, and she nods again. Her neck is growing sore, along with her throat; she never talks this much or nods this much. Never has someone's attention on her. "Please, thank you. I would ask for nothing more."

Asuka nods quickly. She unravels a bit of the bandage roll. Ayanami's arm is covered in antibiotic cream, unevenly applied across her skin. Might as well reuse that.

Asuka puts her hand on Ayanami's, turning it so their palms are up. Her hands feel so fragile, Asuka is afraid of moving too quickly and hurting her. She moves her hand further, her thumb lands on Ayanami's wrist. Without much thought, she strokes the skin lightly, maybe meant as a soothing gesture, a tender apology. Either way, it feels... right.

_ Scheiße. Focus _ . Asuka brings the roll up to her roommate's arm, trapping the end of the bandage under her thumb. "Tell me if it's too tight," she mumbles.

She slowly wraps the gauze around Ayanami's arm, methodically, like she's done it a million times and she'll do it a million more. She focuses on the movement, anything to distract from the guilt gnawing at her stomach, the tightness of her chest. She focuses on making the gauze snug but not too tight, the way it presses against Ayanami's skin, the softness of that skin.

Hey, it's a good distraction, she'll admit that.

Rei wants to melt into the touch. She wants to cling to the fleeting tap-taps of warmth from Soryu's hands on her skin, but they fade so quickly, so easily. Her hand begins to shake, not from pain, and she winces at the realization. She will notice that and yell at me, and this will be for nothing.

For some reason, her face begins to burn. Something about what Soryu is doing, maybe the methodical nature, maybe the gentle touch, maybe just her, something is wreaking havoc on Rei in ways she has never experienced before.

To the question, she shakes her head. "It feels... _ comfortable _ . Thank you."

Asuka stops. She's shaking.  _ Am I hurting her? _ She looks up at Ayanami, into those weird red eyes that become more beautiful the longer she stares into them, and for a solid second she forgets how to breathe.

She opens her mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. No question, no reassurances, nothing. Eventually, driven by an impulse, a desire to, she just lowers the bandages and moves her hands to delicately clasp around Ayanami's hand, a crude imitation of what the girl did with Asuka's hands earlier. This is the opposite; Ayanami was asking for help then, Asuka is now trying to give her help in the only ways that she knows. She says nothing. She just stays there, waiting for Ayanami to stop shaking while she feels like her chest is in a constant state of gentle and dull explosion.

Rei breathes.  _ Soryu is holding my hand. What does this mean _ . She can feel her face burn brighter, feel the claw in her chest untwist, slowly, gently, letting something --her heart?-- free.

Soryu has not yelled at her, but she has held her hand. To stop it from shaking. To stop her from shaking. Ergo, Soryu disapproves. A gentle gesture of disapproval, but one the same. Her kindness is startling. Something runs up Rei's spine. Slowly, she stops shaking. Her breathing turns ragged for a moment, the pain from her wounds spiking fully through her, but it fades before a second is up, replaced again by that dull ache that seems bent on hollowing out the rest of her.

The shifting expressions on Ayanami's face are difficult to read, but Asuka thinks she understands-- she thinks she can understand a look of pain in any context.

"Shhh. It's okay. I-- I'm gonna help you, okay?" Asuka's hand slowly falls away and picks the gauze back up again. This time she's holding Ayanami's hand, keeping her steady, keeping her grounded. Just a couple more wraps, a bit of tucking and they are now done with this arm.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Asuka smiles, patting Ayanami's hand. Her heart betrays her, though, thumping wildly in her chest. "You... You wanna do your other arm or your leg first?"

Rei nods, slowly, surely. She needs to say something, needs to mention Soryu's kindness, needs to make it something other than what could be a figment of her mind. "You have gentle hands," she murmurs, then lifts her arm up, bends it a few times. The bandages hold. Impressive. Soryu is incredibly skilled.

"...my leg, next." Rei pulls her skirt back enough that the poorly-applied bandages are visible.

Asuka's brain and heart are both going a million miles an hour. God. She is not ready for this. She lifts her hands to Ayanami's thigh, assessing the wounds as casually and as heterosexually as possible.  _ God, she has such soft skin _ . The thought has repeated itself too often in her head. Her cheeks warm at the thought of it. She doesn't know if she could get tired of touching it--  _ Okay, y'know what, that's kinda weird. Time to actually focus. _

She places a hand on Ayanami's knee, trying not to feel weird about it.  _ Did she say my hands are gentle? _ Asuka never saw her own hands like that. After all, these are the hands that have failed her countless times-- and now they're the hands that fail Ayanami, too, even if Ayanami herself doesn't know it. These hands are rough, hard; nothing this girl deserves.

Asuka exhales slowly, "Right, I'm gonna... start on this, yeah?" She hesitates for a second, waiting for protests that never come. She peels away the wraps on Ayanami's leg, holding her breath.  _ Hope this doesn't hurt her _ .

Rei nods and braces herself, gripping the worn and faded edge of her skirt. Soryu's touch calms her. The ripping off of the bandages does not. She wants to scream. This fails to occur; Rei has not screamed before, and likely never will.

The wound isn't deep, still, but it's worse than the others. Looks clean and disinfected, though. The bandaging was done much more slipshod than her arms. Up close, Rei's leg bears an assortment of old, faded scars; maybe her arms do, too, and the wounds there were just enough to distract from them.

Her face glows with a light blush.

Asuka pulls off the old bandages (they weren't very secure in the first place), throwing them in a pile with the rest. She's humming something under her breath to calm herself, to keep her hand steady, to ignore the heat growing in her cheeks and the thumping of her heart. A part of her hopes, as stupid as it is, that Ayanami might hear it and it might distract her too.

Asuka stops humming and looks up at her roommate's face. A little pink.  _ Oh god she's not getting sick, is she? _ Without thinking it through Asuka reaches up and puts a hand on Ayanami's cheek. Warmer than typical, but not sickly. A good kind of warmth that spreads through Asuka's body, spreading to her chest and--

She jerks away suddenly. The fuck was that? Fucking pull yourself together, Asuka. She scrambles for the new bandages.

Rei notes the melody and tries to pick it up, lilting in and out, adding a few notes here and there. She’s never been a singer, but sometimes she hums, just a single flat note most of the time; having a tune to carry was...interesting.

Her face flushes bright red and her humming stops cold when Soryu’s hand contacts her cheek.  _ What is she doing. What is happening _ . Alarm bells go off inside her, but... but her roommate’s rough hand feels even gentler on a cheek that before had never been caressed, only slapped. She leans into the touch unconsciously.

When Soryu pulls away she doesn’t stop leaning into it, and almost topples over.

Asuka stares down quickly and doesn't look back up. She can't risk seeing Ayanami's reaction to... whatever the hell that was. She just can't. She just gets back to business, focusing on making the strip of gauze cover as much of the wound as possible. She gently lifts and realigns it several times, taking in the way Ayanami's leg shifts, the little changes in her breathing.

Eventually Asuka figures, roughly, the signs that she's uncomfortable: the very slight, twitch of her leg muscles, an unevenly sharp breath that is barely noticable but completely out of place at the same time. All things most people wouldn't catch at first. Asuka usually wouldn't, either-- not with a lot of people anyway. Ayanami just feels...  _ different _ . To speak to, to look at, to feel. Asuka doesn't know how to explain it, and she sure as hell hopes she never has to.

Her roommate's leg twitches again. It's a tiny movement, but it tells Asuka enough. Too tight.  _ God I'm sorry _ . Asuka readjusts and loosens the bandage before wrapping again with a heavy sigh to fight off the guilt still gnawing at her.

Rei is a little confused by the micro-adjustment. It felt better, yes, but she can function just the same without. Why is Soryu going to this level of...  _ care  _ for her? Sympathy? Guilt? Pity?

She remains unsure how to properly comfort someone. But Soryu... might need it...

Rei lays a hand on Asuka’s head, then pulls back, running her fingers through her auburn bangs.

“I am sorry,” she murmurs. Sorry that she has failed at being a roommate, failed at being a hunter, failed at being a weapon, failed and failed and will fail again. If Soryu gets closer to her, Rei knows she will fail her when it matters most.

Asuka's concentration breaks as she feels the hand on her head, filling her with a jolt of feeling-- a feeling that leaves too quickly each time so now she's too afraid to name it. The touch is gentle, fragile and kind. Too kind. It's so kind it's overwhelming-- it almost feels wrong.

The next words that come out of Ayanami's mouth confirms that feeling.

Asuka feels her stomach drop again. Sorry for what? Sorry for being injured? For being hurt by the angel Asuka was too slow to kill? For Asuka bandaging her up? No. That's wrong. Asuka is the one at fault, Asuka is the reason she's hurt in the first place.

Asuka stops completely. Her shoulders slump a little. Ayanami deserves better than this. She deserves better than any act of apology Asuka could dream up.

"No, I..." Asuka's voice is worn, more worn than it should be at her age. "You're not the one who should be sorry."

“I am...” Rei looks away, to the window, now wet with rain. Nothing is out there, she tells herself, we are safe. She takes a breath, collects herself, her thoughts, considers what Asuka said, considers the slump of her shoulders, considers the sentiment imparted as if Asuka was living through her own personal, decades-long war. “...then, thank you. I am sorry for never speaking, for disrupting your sleep, for only being present when it inconveniences you. For being absent as a roommate. Thank you for this, and... thank you for putting up with me, so far.”

Her voice cracks at the end; by Rei’s standards, that was a speech.

Asuka looks up in confusion. She is completely blindsided by Ayanami's apology. It's... not at all what she expected. Still, it hurts to hear her roommate apologize like she's a burden, especially when she's so weak right now. Asuka is filled with the urge to hug her, to comfort her somehow, but she can't, for the sake of her injuries, and... other reasons.

Asuka takes one of Ayanami's hands in her own, shifting to get a better look at her face. At times like these, Asuka really wishes she was better at comforting people. "Hey, it's... not that bad, being your roommate, actually." It's true. She learned early on that Ayanami would never snoop or go through her stuff, which is probably one of the best things you can find in a roommate (if you ask Asuka). And, if she's honest, Asuka should put in more of an effort as well. It's the least she could do-- it's something she can change, something she can fix.

"A-and the whole thing about... being bad roommates," Asuka continues. "We-- we can change that. Start, like... hanging out together or something. How's that sound?"

She almost squeezes Ayanami's hand but luckily catches herself before she does. She just offers somewhat of a smile and hopes that's good enough. That Asuka is good enough.

"C'mon. Let's be friends."

It... is not that bad? Rei trembles, a shiver runs up her spine. She hopes this isn't something new awakening inside her. Not in front of Soryu. She hesitates, then opens her eyes again; no new vision, good. Then she sees her smile. She wishes she could smile like that, and decides to attempt to.

"That sounds..." Does she have a word for it? A word that can encompass all of how she feels in the moment? No, but she has the next best thing."...good. Yes. Friends."

She squeezes Soryu's hand, and hopes it helps forge their bond.

A wave of relief floods Asuka. It feels like a weight has been lifted off her chest, just washed away. Here is a second chance to actually help Ayanami. She couldn't turn back time and prevent her from getting hurt, but she could be there for her, talk to her, maybe hold her-- or not, who knows. And... if she's really honest with herself, Asuka does want to know Ayanami better, not out of guilt or sympathy. Could be the way she speaks, maybe her eyes or their shared loneliness. Maybe it's the feeling that there's a lot more to this girl than Asuka first thought, and she wants to see it. She wants to see Ayanami.

Asuka nods. Thank fuck her stomach isn't churning anymore. "Good. Now let's get the rest of you wrapped up, alright?"

Rei nods and offers her other arm. The monumentality of the moment hasn't hit her yet; maybe it will when she's going to sleep, or some moment later, or during her next class. She has a friend now. Someone to share things with, someone to share parts of her soul to, someone to sit beside. And it's Asuka Langley Soryu. She can hardly believe her luck. The attempt at a smile remains on her face; it looks strange, slight, crooked, but real.

Asuka's uncertain grin turns into a full on smile. She can't help it. The guilt is gone, the self-loathing has retreated for now. All Asuka knows is that Ayanami is smiling at her-- her heart swells with warmth, and for now she feels something in her chest that isn't anger, self-loathing or numbness. It's just Ayanami, with her weirdly sweet, slightly lop-sided smile. Damn, she's fuckin' adorable.

The other arm is less of a hassle-- it's less torn up than the other-- and Asuka isn't really focused on it, honestly. She doesn't need it as a distraction anymore-- the guilt that chased her has fallen away to the back of her mind, waiting to rear its head another day. The warmth of Ayanami's hand as she holds it is a much better alternative anyway.

She finishes the last wrap, tucking it beneath itself. Would be better if it had taping or something, but it'll work.

"Alright, we're done! Just don't get too rough with it." Upon seeing her roommate nod at this, Asuka stands up and stretches her back and her legs (they fell asleep, but she'll walk it off, it's fine). Her arms are a little sore and her knees hurt like hell from the shitty carpeting, but she actually feels better than before. She made a friend, after all.

"Thank you, Soryu." Rei stands up, rolls her shoulders, cricks her neck, then just sort of... stands there, watching Soryu stretch. Her gaze flickers to her muscular arms, strapping legs, shoulders dusted with freckles that spread down to her hands and up to her face; she's never examined her closely before, and maybe she should. Then again, closeness to her self would likely satisfy more than closeness to her body. They are friends now, so...

"I have no plans for today. Should we do something together?"

That question really makes it stick-- Ayanami is Asuka's friend. Like, actually her friend. And she wants to hang out. Actually.  _ Holy shit _ .

"Fuck yeah!" Asuka blurts out with a little too much excitement. Contrary to popular belief, Asuka Langley Soryu does not have a lot of friends. She's got a lot of admirers, sure, but not, like...  _ friends _ . It's hard to find many when you're busy killing angels. Guess the price of hunting down monsters is having a barely functional social life.

But now her new friend is staring at her intently, and it's... not uncomfortable as much as it is just different. Especially from the other people their age who stare at her.

"Uhh..." Asuka puts a hand on her hip and scratches the back of her head. "Could get somethin' to eat. If you're hungry at all." Not the most cool and interesting idea, but she doesn't care. She thinks spending time with Ayanami is good enough anyway.

And before her friend can say anything, Asuka quickly adds, "Also, you can just call me Asuka if y'want. No need to stick to Soryu."

Rei takes the statements and parses them, finger to her chin in contemplation. Is she hungry? She hasn’t eaten recently. Maybe she is. But the surity of an excuse to spend time with each other pushed her past that ‘maybe.’

Second...’Asuka.’ Asuka. Asuka, Asuka, Asuka. A jump in familiarity, from ‘roommate’ to ‘Soryu’ to ‘Asuka’. That warm feeling from before pulses in her chest. She can say it. She can look into her eyes and say,

“Yes, Asuka. I... would enjoy sharing that experience with you.”

Asuka feels her face heat up. The way Ayanami says her name sounds so wonderful, so sweet that Asuka almost asks her to say it again. She doesn't, thankfully.

"Alright!" Asuka claps her hands together. "So, Ayanami-- can I call you Rei?--" She frowns for a split second. A little nagging doubt tells her that's too far, as stupid as it is. "There's a diner in town. Got the best damn fries. Interested?" Asuka pauses. Maybe she doesn't like fries.  _ Scheiße _ .

Hearing her name --the name she  _ chose--  _ come from Asuka's mouth gives Rei an inexplicable rush, like a verbal drop of black coffee, but so much sweeter. Quickly she nods... although she has a doubt about the second offering. "I have not eaten fries before," Rei admits. This may get in the way of their friendship, she realizes; her general lack of experience compared to Asuka. "Do they... have meat?"

Oh. No meat. Got it. "Nope, they're just... fried potatoes and salt. and sometimes other stuff... but no meat. I mean, usually. They got a lot of other stuff with no meat, don't worry," Asuka adds a little too quickly. You can't really blame her; she just wants to be with Ayanami-- with Rei, she corrects herself. She likes that name. Rei.

Rei nods sagely, still not entirely getting it but she decides to roll with it. “That sounds perfect then. Asuka.” She pauses, turns, opens one of her nearly-empty clothing drawers and withdraws a clear poncho. The rain is still pattering against the window; she doesn’t want to ruin all of Asuka’s hard work by getting drenched.

Asuka's confused before she sees the poncho-- oh. Asuka completely forgot it was raining. In turn, she grabs her trusty jacket. Not technically a raincoat, but better than nothing. She shoves her arms through the sleeves and puts her hands in the pockets. She left her keys in the right pocket. Perfect. "Mm. We can just take my truck."

Rei squints at the jacket, but does not question anything. "Lead the way and I will follow." A bit formal for the moment. Maybe a promise, maybe an offer, maybe more general to life than to the moment. She is unsure, just yet. She thinks about holding Asuka's hand, but, seeing no opportunity, plants her hands in her own pockets as well.


End file.
